The image of the day was the ecstatic happiness of Tadej Pogacar at the summit of Pla d'Adet, always with his inseparable Joseba ready with the first aid at the finish line. But the joy was not only for the victory, not even for the bite at Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification. Pogi had done it his way, and he wasn't interested in playing defensively. "I find it hard to hold back," he had warned in the morning at the start in Pau. From words to actions, from plans to "instinct."
Because... "The idea was to win the stage by sprinting in the final part to gain a few bonus seconds," he admitted unabashedly when everyone thought that what happened in Saint Lary Soulain was a tribute to UAE's strategy. "But winning like this is much better. This Tour must be really entertaining on television..." he joked, pulling off improvisation, thinking calmly with his heart rate at a thousand.
Interestingly, it was the absence of Juan Ayuso, who withdrew the day before due to Covid, that triggered the events. After the astonishing work of the giant Politt -"it's incredible," he praised one of his great signings, 'stolen' from Bora, the Slovenian-, Tadej was missing pieces in the final ascent. "I felt super good. Joao [Almeida] was pushing hard already eight kilometers from the finish. I saw the opportunity for Adam [Yates] to attack in search of the stage victory, freeing us from the duty of leading the group. Seeing that no one from the general classification was moving, I saw the chance to attack myself following my instinct, catching up with Adam and gaining a good advantage for the general classification as well as the stage victory. I want to emphasize my gratitude to Adam for his work," Pogacar explained in detail.
Tadej is driven by passion, the desire to push his power to the limit, the fun of winning. He doesn't think about what comes next, about Sunday's stage, with five climbs and almost 5,000 meters of accumulated elevation gain up to Plateau de Beille. Nor does he think about the Alps next week, where he lost his last two Tours. Nor about the fatigue that might appear after his feat in the Giro. He doesn't even think about the rematch against his Nemesis, a Vingegaard who looked threatening in the Massif Central, as if there were no trace of that brutal crash in the Itzulia three months ago that had him hospitalized and disrupted all his plans. "This is not revenge. Cycling is not a war; it's the game we play. Sometimes you lose, and sometimes you win..." he clarified.
Yates expressed a similar sentiment, as surprised as anyone by the events of another memorable day. "It was a bit of improvisation. I was ready to follow the pace normally, and he told me to attack. 'What are you talking about?' So I attacked and looked back a couple of times to see where he was," the British rider told Eurosport.
But, after the excitement, despite Pogacar's astonishing data on the climb (much faster than Armstrong's years ago), there is still what lies ahead. And, despite the almost two-minute lead, no one considers the Tour to be decided. Not even Vingegaard himself. "Losing time is never positive, but I had a good performance," reflected the rider from Visma. "In the steepest moments, I was gaining ground, but on the flatter sections, it favored him. The difference is significant, but it's not lost. I think I was more disappointed in the Galibier stage," he pointed out.
This sentiment was echoed by Mikel Landa, recalling past events. "We must be cautious. Last year, Vingegaard took seven minutes from Pogacar in two days. We see that both are a step above Remco in the mountains, so we will try to defend the podium and fight for a stage win," he told Spanish media at the finish line. His work alongside Evenepoel has been amazing for someone who grabbed all the headlines. The Belgian, in his first Tour, is still in the fight for the podium. "Fourth place is four minutes behind me, which is a good margin. As for Tadej and Jonas, they have more experience and more power than me. I will keep fighting for the podium. With Jonas, you never know; he's not far from me, and he must have realized that Tadej is very strong. It may be that he starts to play defensively, which could allow me to aim for more," reasoned the Soudal rider.
A day that had its negative side. In the final kilometers, a spectator decided to toy with the integrity of the favorites. First with Pogacar (bothering him with a bag of chips), then with Vingegaard, even going as far as touching their faces in the midst of their effort. The Tour's official account on X was clear -"in a world where you can be anything, you choose to be foolish"-. Also, the president of the Riders' Association, Adam Hansen, declared that the organization will take legal action against this spectator.